MoFi FrankenVinyl
 

Reports have surfaced that MoFi “has been” creating FrankenVinyl - that’s is, analogue + digital vinyl.

Thought this is worthy of discussion.

https://youtu.be/a3oRLUcZCFE

https://youtu.be/shg0780YgAE

I was going to start a thread on this but you beat me to it. I've read a lot of what's been reported the last couple of days and apparently the mastering of their vinyl from 4X DSD was confirmed. Most of what I've read involves more ire toward their marketing department rather than their engineers. Look, I have a crapton of MOFI vinyl and just about all of it sounds excellent so I'm less concerned with the product than how they are selling it. Selling $125 One Step records with an emphasis on how they are mastered in an all analog chain is really problematic, especially for someone who may be on the fence about buying one of these versus a true analog NM original for $25. I really think that's where the problem lies. It'll be interesting how this affects their sales.....there's a huge thread about this over at the Hoffman forums with a lot of their members vowing to never buy anything from them again, so I guess we'll see.

- Buck

Agreed. :thumbsup: Those of us in vinyl (in audio period) deserve honesty, integrity, and transparency. I think the engineers did their job - and they did it well considering what they had to work with.

However, MoFi’s marketing and execs had the obligation to tell us the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. However, IMO they didn’t as they knew that vinyl purists would rebel against their label.

IMO, not only were consumers harmed by MoFi’s deception, but they also hurt other companies. How many consumers would have purchased their vinyl from another source had MoFi had told the truth from the beginning. Mind us this has been going on since 2008! :sigh:

yeah, it's really disappointing, I suppose the ultimate question is what kind of difference good or bad would there have been with their current lineup if they HAD mastered exclusively analog the entire way. I guess that's the million dollar question.......from a sound quality perspective I suppose if the sound is as good as it's capable of being, then perhaps no harm no foul except for a bit of tarnish on the brand.

- Buck

I’m glad I live in FL where we have many of the older generation all but giving their vinyl away. I’ve even scored some unopened albums from the 60’s and 70’s which cost me $5 each instead of $2 at a yard sale. :hphones:

I don’t have that many MoFi albums, and don’t plan on having any more. I enjoy dealing with honest dealers, manufactures, and brands. Life’s too short to waste my time with the others …

Let’s talk numbers. MoFi is releasing 40,000 copies of Thriller in 1-step. A stamper lasts between 500 and 1000 records, so MoFi has to make between 40 and 80 lacquers to fill the run.

There is NO WAY any master tape owner would let their masters be played that many times.

So MoFi has to make a second generation pressing master. They chose to use 4x DSD instead of analog tape. It’s a wise choice technically, the correct choice imo.

But their lack of transparency and actual outright lies are the most problematic thing here - not the end quality of the presssings, which are all excellent.

This is hard. Many masters have deteriorated and become unusable. Many more have been lost to fire and flood. Many of the masters used in re-issues are already second generation ‘safety’ masters. MoFi does a great job re-issuing this stuff. I just wish they didn’t lie about their ‘Original Master Recordings’, which many (most?) are not. And sometimes they have no way of knowing, either.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant. Time for MoFi to come clean and do what they do best - make great sounding records.

Tom - Michael Fremer addresses this in his follow up video here:

https://youtu.be/5gkt-VPDXl4

[emoji106] W9TR

Tom (W9TR) - great post.
Aside form MoFi's obscurations, a simple question could be:
if the recording engineers in the 1960's had their choice between 4X DSD or analog tape, which would they have chosen as their primary master?

My take: 4x DSD. Why?

No modulation noise, 20 dB better snr, orders of magnitude lower distortion, no tape head bumps at low frequencies, no wow and flutter.

As loved as analog tape seems to be, it’s an imperfect medium. Much better than anything else available through at least the 80’s.